Book of Mormon questions for brave Mormons to answer

[_marg]

Yes I noticed that Brackite with regards to polygamy and Book of Jacob. I guess why I didn't find it "good" is because it's inconsistent with the actual religious views on polygamy and church leaders. So obviously that isn't a chapter which is influential in affecting "good behaviors" in Mormons. If it weren't for the government stepping in I'm sure Mormons would still be practicing polygamy today despite whatever the Book of Mormon says on it.

[_Inconceivable]

And yes, I learned good things each time.

What do you consider to be "good things"? I'm nearly finished Book of Jacob and haven't noticed anything "good". Where abouts in the book are you referring to?

Here are a few from a Mormon's point of view (some of these principles I still believe in, some I don't). Most members and even leadership have little understanding of many of these things:

The value of ones word, personal integrity
The process of becoming born again - How to recognize one's own personal conversion (and that of others)
Signs, deeds and works that follow personal conversion
Attributes of charity
Power of example
Power of faith
Who we should trust and why
What makes a man foolish
How to care for a vineyard
How to recognize organized crime and other secret combinations (there are many parallels here to the history of polygamy and the temple endowment)
The value, purpose and tendency of lawyers
Steps that lead to anarchy
Attributes of the natural man
Promises made specifically to those that reside in the USA
Purpose of wealth and treasure - why we should seek it
How to recognize if one is becoming prideful
The value of humbling oneself rather than letting circumstance humble you
Agency, willingness and force
Understanding the purpose for the fall, tree of life, tree of knowledge
Examples of the cost of freedom, justification for war
Recognizing a false sense of security
The evils of favoritism
True faith in Christ
How to be led by the spirit of Christ/holy ghost
How to encourage and remind leaders to recognize their purpose
Why to name your children after good people
How to discern gifts from god
The purpose and need for a prophet
What gets a true prophet killed (smith did not qualify)
Formula for happiness
Mercy vs justice
How to obtain peace of mind
How works and faith function together
Holy Ghost, purpose and characteristics of
Attributes of selflessness
Why bad things happen to good people
The power of consequence, damnation and hell defined
Examples of decadence apostacy and disobedience and how to avoid
Attributes of members in apostacy (pride, scorn, ramiumtum)
Strategem and the justification for it
Examples of the patience of god
Reasons for adversity
The power of satan and his strategies
Formula for receiving answers from the Mormon God
Faith destroyers: flattery, scorn, apathy, pride
Attributes of gratitude
Prayer - what is, why to, how to, what to pray for, when to pray
Examples of prayers answered
Reason there are no miracles
How to dispose of the bodies of an enemy
Value and purpose of capital punishment
How to understand the language of the scriptures

Which one would you like a specific reference to?

by the way, at the time of my exit, I was writing a book: paradigms of the Book of Mormon. I'll never finish it. If anything, I might write a book entitled, How the Book of Mormon demonstrates that the LDS church is not true

[_marg]

Well Inconceivable while you may think that list represents "good things" I would disagree with some of them, but that's from my perspective.

However I didn't sleep much last night, I need to get off the board. Tomorrow I'm going away until Monday. So further comment will have to wait.

Hmmm..."How to care for a vineyard". Do you really think it taught you how to care for a vineyard? Seriously? I read that chapter, it wasn't the point of it, nor do I think vineyards typically have bitter evil fruit which needs to be pruned out.

[_Inconceivable]

Well Inconceivable while you may think that list represents "good things" I would disagree with some of them, but that's from my perspective.

However I didn't sleep much last night, I need to get off the board. Tomorrow I'm going away until Monday. So further comment will have to wait.

Hmmm..."How to care for a vineyard". Do you really think it taught you how to care for a vineyard? Seriously? I read that chapter, it wasn't the point of it, nor do I think vineyards typically have bitter evil fruit which needs to be pruned out.

If "good things" are defined as "valid wisdom", I would wholeheartedly agree with your assessment. When I was a Mormon, I tried to bend my intellect to believe is was all valid wisdom.

So far as vineyards are concerned..

The owner (God) was indifferent, lazy and a drama queen. Both He and the husbandman (Jesus) did a lot of guessing to try and save bad trees. God ought to have cared more and both should have gone to vineyard school rather than dabble in something they knew little about (social architecture).

Since they're really talking about the souls of men, I would give them both a flogging "F"

Have a nice weekend. Everyone needs a break.

[_mentalgymnast]

Also I'd like to get this straight. Is the Book of Mormon supposed to be a word for word translation from ancient text which had been scratched onto metal plates?

Hi Marg,

A good place to start for some information dealing with Book of Mormon translation issues, including your question above, is here:

http://mi.BYU.edu/publications/jbms/?vol=7&num=1&id=167

if you're really curious and want to learn more...go here:

http://mi.BYU.edu/publications/review/? ... m=1&id=137

If you haven't read Royal Skousen's stuff, it's a great place to begin your Book of Mormon studies.

Good reading!

Regards,
MG

[_Inconceivable]

Also I'd like to get this straight. Is the Book of Mormon supposed to be a word for word translation from ancient text which had been scratched onto metal plates?

Hi Marg,

A good place to start for some information dealing with Book of Mormon translation issues, including your question above, is here:

(bla bla bla)

Good reading!

whatever.

Let me summarize a life's worth of worthless research for you:

Symbols do not necessarilly translate verbatim into words. Symbols can be conceptual. That's why a simple symbol may translate into ridiculous phrases like "and it came to pass".

When spoken in the original language it could have sounded like a short grunt or even the letter P.

I found focussing on such things has always distracted me from the message. If there is no message of value in the Book of Mormon, it doesn't matter how fantastic the story is about how the book ended up in English.

What a waste to spend so much of one's time focussing on everthing but the message.

There just seems to be a lot of authorities on the subject that probably never read it through once.